Prosecution of Child Sexual Abuse: Challenges in Achieving Justice
Date
2022
Journal Title
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Publisher
Wellesley Centers for Women
Abstract
Stephanie Block and Linda Williams, along with numerous colleagues, conducted federally funded research on
the prosecution of CSA
to examine rates of attrition in cases of CSA, to examine the trajectories of reported cases,
and to assess current barriers at stages leading to prosecution. The research also documented non-prosecutorial
outcomes, as not all cases result in prosecution and other outcomes are available and, at times, preferable. This
paper explores policy and practice implications based on the examination of the prosecutorial outcomes.
The
outcomes for 500 randomly selected CSA reports made to the authorities in four jurisdictions were examined. In
this white paper, we focus on the outcomes for the 325 cases that involved allegations of CSA by perpetrators aged
16 and older, and we make recommendations for policy and practice as well as call for further research and action.
We examine how reports of CSA progress through intake, investigation, and prosecution; the characteristics of
cases that move forward; and the factors associated with case attrition at each stage.
Description
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Keywords
child sexual abuse, prosecution, attrition, barriers, outcomes, policy recommendations
Citation
Williams, L.M., Block, S.D., Johnson, H.M., Ramsey, M.G., and Winstead, A.P. (2022, April). Prosecution of Child Sexual Abuse: Challenges in Achieving Justice. Wellesley, MA: Wellesley Centers for Women.